Chrysalis

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I thought a lot about the necessity of performing some sort of victimhood in the face of trauma [in] a way that makes their trauma legible to others. Taking on questions of femininity and expectation, as well as social media and its ability to make a cult leader of anyone, Chrysalis raises as many questions as it answers about our society and our place within it.” — Lit Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2023

The effect of the novel’s triptych form feels like looking at the protagonist through the lens of a kaleidoscope, each segmentdazzling, but ultimately fractured, leaving compelling gaps in our perception of who she is.” — Electric Lit An unnerving, compelling and utterly contemporary debut novel about one woman's metamorphosis into an online phenomenon, from a Sunday Times Short Story Award-shortlisted writer. She is watched by Elliot as he trains in the gym. He notices her dedication to building her body and taking up space, and he is drawn to her strength. She is observed by her mother, as she grows from a taciturn, tremulous child into a determined and distant woman, who severs all familial ties. She is observed by her former colleague Susie, who offers her sanctuary and support as she leaves her partner and her job and rebuilds her life, transforms her body, and reinvents herself online. Each of these three witnesses to the woman desires closeness. Each is left with only the husk of who she was before she became someone else: a woman on a singular and solitary path with the power to inspire and to influence her followers, for good and ill. An oblique, intimate novel told in lucid, beguiling prose, Chrysalis a story about solitude and selfhood, and about the blurred line between self-care and narcissism. It is about controlling the body and the mind, about the place of the individual within society and what is means when someone choses to leave society behind. It is strikingly contemporary story about the search for answers and those we trust to give them to us. In the end, our main character decides to cut out all relationships and focuses on not just slow living but slow moving; she is able to hold a yoga pose for hours on end. Through her dedication and YouTube videos, she amasses a small cult following who follows her lead and rejects society--perhaps, in a way, the only way a woman can be truly safe in this world? A masterclass in character, Chrysalis is an unsettling and brilliant portrait - not just of a woman in transformation or of those who fall into her orbit, but also of a world defined simultaneously by our isolation and by our longing to connect. This is a sharply-wrought, surprisingly tender book about how our internal changes create external change... often in ways we didn't intend -- Jen Silverman, author of We Play OurselvesChrysalis examines the illusions built into our search for online connection and our idolisation of strangers simply because we feel intimate with them... The resulting tone is one of isolation and introspection, as though humanity were being viewed from afar - evocative of the psychological loneliness that is the extreme end of self-care * Literary Review *

She is watched by Elliot as he trains in the gym. He notices her dedication to building her body and taking up space, and he is drawn to her strength. She is observed by her mother, as she grows from a taciturn, tremulous child into a determined and distant woman, who severs all familial ties. She is observed by her former colleague Susie, who offers her sanctuary and support as she leaves her partner and her job and rebuilds her life, transforms her body, and reinvents herself online. Each of these three witnesses to the woman desires closeness. Each is left with only the husk of who she was before she became someone else: a woman on a singular and solitary path with the power to inspire and to influence her followers, for good and ill. Elliot, a recluse who notices her at the gym, witnesses her physical evolution and becomes her first acolyte. Bella, her mother, worries about the intense effect her daughter’s new way of life is beginning to have on others, and she reflects on their relationship, a close cocoon from which her daughter has broken free. Susie, her ex-colleague and best friend, offers her sanctuary and support as she makes the transition to self-created online phenomenon, posting viral meditation videos that encourage her followers to join her in achieving self-sufficiency by isolating themselves from everyone else in their lives. She is watched by Elliot as he trains in the gym. He notices her dedication to building her body and taking up space, and he is drawn to her strength. She is observed by her mother, as she grows from a taciturn, tremulous child into a determined and distant woman, who severs all familial ties. She is observed by her former colleague Susie, who offers her sanctuary and support as she leaves her partner and her job and rebuilds her life, transforms her body, and reinvents herself online. One for all the contemporary fiction lovers, Chrysalis is the story of an unnamed woman, whose actions blur the lines between self care and narcissism. It takes controlling the body and mind to a whole new level and the transformation of one woman, as well as her influence on others throughout her journey.JA: I like that. It feels like capitalism asks us to tie our identity to work, and when a lot of these characters lose that or experience change, they have this moment of: Who am I? What makes me happy? Does anything make me happy? Is it consuming more that’s going to make me happy? The novel charts her physical and mental change into a new person who eschews many societal norms and finds meaning in making meditation and fitness videos online, attracting a huge following.

Her mother gives us a history of how she was growing up, her personality and the kind of daughter she was. I really enjoyed the mother’s perspective because I loved the mother-daughter theme that was explored.The gym setting is particularly apt, not only because the woman is intent on changing her body but also because, as Metcalfe observes: “[Gyms] are really strange places where people spend much longer than usual watching themselves, because there are mirrors everywhere, but also anxiously watching other people… it’s an interesting social environment.” Incredibly smart and totally unique... ranging from online obsession, to mothers and daughters, to the very nature of selfhood, the whole thing is strange and warm and, crucially, very funny... I savoured every last brilliant sentence' - Ruth Gilligan We are more surprised when we see a woman refusing to conform to somebody else’s expectations of how they ought to behave. Like the best of literary fiction, in my view, this novel is mostly about interiority, is compelling and beautifully written, I will be thinking about the issues it raises long after I have closed the cover. What more can you ask of a book? Ms Metcalfe has been selected by the literary magazine, Granta, as one of its promising young, new British novelists, it was this list that first introduced me to her.